Brave New World
by RECKLESS SOLDIER-MS
Summary: Set in prenew52 original Detective comics Universe: Having disbanded long ago, the Justice league is suddenly forced back into action when the Joker and a group of otherworldly villains holds the Earth hostage. United by a boy from another world, the league learns not only why the world needs them but why they need one another as the Earth faces another grand crisis.


Disclaimer: I don't own the DC universe, Siegfried Reilly is my creation, any similarities to other characters is based on inspiration or coincidence.

Hi followers and new comers. This is one of my second Justice League stories. Its partly a new story and partly a sequal to my Avengers storyline The Hunt. Spoiler: the end of which saw one of the main characters Sieg travel to the DC Universe.

This story carries on the personal story of my OC Sieg in the Struggle of the Apprentice series. It also acts as a continuation of the original DC comics Universe, before Flashpoint. All of the characters and their origins are intact, Roy Harper still has a cybernetic arm, Clark is still married to Lois, Jade, Donna Troy and other deleted characters still exist. This story and future stories take place in the original DC universe without any concepts from the New 52 with the exception of some minor New 52 characters to drive the plot and in future stories I will incorporate New 52 story lines from the Bat and Lantern universes (which were probably the series that were least influenced by New 52).

One expectation I can promise of this story is to see the original seven of the League fighting together again. What brings them together and what influence my character Sieg has on that is something you'll have to find out.

Hope you all enjoy the story

* * *

An original DC Universe story

After many great calamities, what the public referred to every time as a crisis, the great heroes that once protected the world began to retire. The world wasn't left completely defenceless and there was no great announcement. They simply became less active than they used to be. What was felt and seen most by the people of Earth however was the disbanding of the Justice League, Donna Troy, Jade, Congo Bill, Starman, Supergirl, Jesse Quick and Batman no longer worked as a team. They were the final, or at least most recent incarnation of the Justice League. Teams like the Justice Society followed, changing their rosters, combining their old team and their 'All-Stars' team into one, with some members even taking on permanent retirement such as Jay Garrick and Ted Grant. Even the Teen Titans disbanded, though Superboy and Wondergirl were often seen working together. The world had changed, becoming more peaceful, as if the heroes weren't needed anymore.

A year had passed since Dick Grayson's final Justice League related mission. He was working on his own cases, going back to his Nightwing roots. His mentor and father figure, the billionaire orphan Bruce Wayne was the only man to bear the Batman name. Ever since Bruce had lost his parents something had always been off about him. He'd accepted that he wasn't like other people, but he wasn't at all like the psychopaths in Arkham Asylum. Gotham was still a place of corruption and crime, Leviathan was still active and global crime figures were still at a point that required intervention from figures outside of the law. In a way Bruce would always be Batman.

But for one night he wouldn't worry about the suit or Batman Inc. There was something else that had his interest. Dressed in a pair of jeans a black turtleneck, Bruce sat at the bat computer, his teenage son Damian was practicing with the training dummies and Alfred was getting out of the elevator with a tea trolley. His loyal servant and father figure moved with his usual dignified pose, disciplined but always ready for trouble. The former British intelligence agent often joked that Bruce's paranoia had passed to them. Bruce didn't mind, paranoia had actually made his life easier. Even with Talia and her Leviathan organisation in hiding, Bruce still prepared for her reappearance, just as he always prepared for the possible, not the definite appearance of the next threat. Villains wouldn't always remain inactive or reformed, even heroes could go off the deep end. His abundance of contingency plans had nearly destroyed the league once, Ra's Al Ghul had gotten his hands on plans Bruce had put to computer. Bruce had learnt from that, he had dedicated his contingencies to the only storage device he needed, his own mind.

"I remember the times you used to look up through your telescope, Damian has taken up the same activity," Alfred smiled as he placed a cup of tea at Bruce's side table.

"He's not stargazing, he's monitoring disturbances in Earth's orbit, just as I have been," Damian said, battering the training dummies with his Escrima sticks.

Alfred took a closer look at the monitor and narrowed his eyes at the images. They were indeed diagrams and pictures taken from a Wayne satellite that was monitoring the distortion that had formed in Earth's orbit. It had become a phenomenon that had fascinated civilians and disturbed scientists. A small minority of people had even claimed to see a reflection of the Earth in the mirror like singularity that formed in space.

"Yes, have you considered giving Mr Jordan a call?" Alfred asked.

"Hal isn't a Green Lantern anymore," Bruce said.

"What happened?"

"Something about a war between the Lantern Corps, we don't talk much!"

The abrupt response was enough for Alfred to drop it. He knew Bruce and Hal Jordan's respect for one another was deep but they didn't show it and when the League was first formed they bickered a lot. Bruce put a hand to his chin as he zoomed in on the images of the anomaly. He then narrowed his eyes, pausing the image as the light of the portal grew brighter. The images were slightly blurred but there was a silhouette that Bruce pointed towards.

"Did something go through the portal?" Damian asked, jumping to the computer.

"No Damian, someone went through it before it closed," Bruce pointed out the silhouette.

It wasn't an object but a person.

* * *

**This is my story, I was not born on this Earth, I wasn't even born in this universe. My full name is Siegfried Wallace, but I like going by the name Sieg Reilly, Sieg is what all of my friends called me and Reilly is the last name of my adopted father Sven Reilly. The universe I come from is very different from this one. There are completely different alien races, completely different heroes and there is no Metropolis, no Star City, Gotham, Central or Keystone city. We had our own super heroes and I grew up in the shadow of their adventures. They faced different villains and different events that would have destroyed the world if not for them. But they weren't perfect either, they went through a Civil War with one side looking to follow the government's commands and another side wishing to remain anonymous as all heroes did. That registration act divided the super hero community. For a while the heroes remained divided right up until the time I started getting more involved in the super human community.**

**My adopted father took me in because my biological father Heinrich Wallace abandoned me. I suppose Heinrich thought Sven would do a better job of protecting me, he had done so in the past after all. A villainous group known as the Dawn, led by a warlord called Muramasa was intent on capturing me because of my X-gene, an abnormality in my genetic makeup caused my father's experiments in discovering the true origin of the mutant race. When the Dawn came knocking, Sven protected me and as I got older he treated me as a son. He taught me, trained me and ultimately gave me all of the power I needed to protect myself and make my own way.**

**There is a world beyond all others, a world that can only be seen by a few. This realm of spirits is a world of infinite possibilities, where power necessary to protect the world can be claimed by those pure enough to use it. Sven helped me to find the spirit that was best suited to me, a spirit of faith born from my faith in Sven and further enhanced when I joined the adventures of the heroes I grew up worshipping.**

**There came a time unlike any other, when the fate of not just our world but the entire universe hung off of a thread. Sven and his spirit knights joined with the mightiest heroes of my world and fought to defend it. But the portal that linked our world to this one could only be closed by a spirit knight. Sven made the decision to close the portal, but I beat him to it. I left my father and all of the friends I had made behind to enter a new world. But nothing has changed, I was taught to put others lives before my own, to protect the world even if it isn't my own. I'll protect this world from any threat.**

* * *

Brave New World

Chapter 1: Aeon

Metropolis was a good place to live, provided you weren't one of the unlucky people to fall victim to a super villain attack. Such attacks were rare but they still occurred, especially with the disbanding of the Justice League. One of the Justice League's long time foes had taken up their old ways again. King looked at the hostages set out on the ground, they were all terrified and once had the mindset that nothing bad happened in Metropolis. A few criminals were still afraid of hitting the city, paranoid that they would be the one villain that would get Superman back in the air. King however didn't have that fear, even if Superman did come the same thing would happen as always, the good guy would beat him down and send him to a prison. Being immortal offered little in the way of fear for King, he had gotten his face fried by the Joker and it had taken him years to grow back.

But King wasn't going to settle for being a mere witness. He wanted money as did the rest of his gang. His Royal Flush Gang was back to small time jobs, but they would build themselves towards something greater. First they'd hit the Metro bank, then Gotham's trust fund gala, moving on to the art exhibit in Star City and then the Federal Reserve. Or at least that was the plan, once they could afford some hired help. At the moment it was just King, the cyborg Jack, card-wielding assassin Queen, gothic energy manipulator Ten and the muscle of the team Ace. The humanoid android towered over the guards, with Jack ready to blast them with the laser built into his eye. King placed the drawers of cash into the trolley, whilst Queen cut open the diamond drawers and placed them into a bag.

"Hurry up Ten the police will be here soon," King said.

"Supergirl's attending to a Volcano eruption in the tropics, and I doubt Superman is going to get involved in a simple robbery," Ten explained.

"Do you want to be the one who finds that out the hard way, we've got everything we need for our partner," Queen stated, putting her cards away.

"Come on lets go," King said impatiently.

Jack looked to the entrance of the bank; he couldn't hear any police incoming. If everything was going according to plan their partner would be making a scene to divert the first responders. He still had the uneasy feeling that something wasn't right. His cybernetic eye narrowed as he looked at the far corner of the ceiling. A sadistic grin spread across his face.

"I see you," he said.

He fired his laser, only for it to be deflected, nearly hitting King's head.

"Whose there?" Queen demanded.

"_**Guess I can throw stealth out of the window!"**_

The voice that emanated from the attacker had an echo effect. He jumped from the shadows of the ceiling, fully revealing himself to the gang. He wore a suit of white and blue armour, like a knight or a Japanese mecha. The closest thing that Jack could think of to describe it was those Japanese shows about the armoured heroes, with the bad martial arts and the even worse acting. An intimidating grey and red sword was attached to the man's right arm and worked on some kind of mechanism, that the gang saw in action. The sword first pointed past the man's elbow, but it quickly slid outwards with the blade end pointing past his wrist. He pointed the blade at the Royal Flush gang, narrowing his glowing blue eyes at them.

"A rookie mistake hero, maybe you should have joined the Titans, only a fool goes in without back up when hostages are involved," King smirked.

The armoured man huffed and the Royal Flush Gang widened their eyes. One by one the hostages were coated in some kind of crystallised armour, not as detailed as the hero facing down the gang, but enough to protect them from anything the gang could come out with.

"_**Do yourselves a favour and give up," **_he said.

"The hell with that," Ten growled.

She fired a blast from her hand, throwing the armoured man back and sending him crashing into the service kiosk.

"Shortest debut ever," Jack chuckled.

"_**You think so?"**_

Jack and Ten snarled as the armoured man hovered away from the kiosk. He dragged his sword across the ground as he flew towards the Gang.

"TAKE HIM DOWN!" King yelled at Ace.

The android ran towards the armoured man, aiming a punch for his face. But the hero ducked at the last minute and swept his blade through Ace's elbow. The android widened his eyes as his arm fell to the floor. Then the hero swung his sword two more times before jumping off of Ace's head, the androids left arm and leg fell apart as the hero landed in front of Jack and Ten. They fired their lasers at the same time and the hero quickly crossed his arms together. He groaned in subtle pain as the force of the blasts pushed him backwards. King looked at the trolley full of cash and towards the entrance. He grabbed the trolley and ran around the hero. But the armoured man paid the immortal no heed. He formed two crystal shields that deflected the energy blasts, hitting the ceiling above Queen. Debris rained down on her, striking her head and knocking her out. The shields then turned into shards that flew towards the energy manipulators. One pierced Jack's eye just enough to shut down his laser, and the others hit the baggy areas of Ten's dress, pinning her to the nearest wall. The armoured hero then ran towards the Jack, delivering a fierce punch to his face. He crashed to the floor unconscious.

"Bastard," Ten growled, ripping her dress as she tore herself from the wall.

She fired a blast from her hand, hitting the armoured hero's helmet. He yelled in pain as a piece of his helmet shattered, revealing human flesh around a blue eye. Ten didn't have long to celebrate her victory as the young man grabbed her by the head and slammed her against the wall.

"_**A little rough but its gets the job done," **_he said as he clicked his fingers together.

The crystal constructs around the hostages shattered and much to their shock they found four fifths of the Royal Flush Gang incapacitated. King on the other hand was shocked to see his transportation disabled. The wheels of his truck had been turned into crystal boulders, making it impossible for the vehicle to drive. He turned, only to run into the armoured hero.

"_**Lets take a little ride shall we?" **_the hero wasn't asking as he grabbed the collar of King's coat and flew above the entrance.

"Who the hell are you?" King demanded.

"_**Call me Aeon, I'm in a bit of a rut King, you hit this bank with just a truck, no offence but that isn't exactly going to stop the police from chasing you and it wont outrun Supergirl once she gets back and has done away with your little distraction," **_Aeon explained.

"What are you talking about?"

_**"Yeah cause its just a coincidence that the Atomic Skull attacks the first responders. How did you two get in touch, how were you planning to escape metro PD?"**_

"Who do you think you are, Batman? You're no Batman, I once ratted out the Joker to Batman and believe me when I tell you that you are no Batman," King laughed.

"_**I'm the new guy on the block King, keep that in mind, you have no idea what I'm capable of," **_Aeon snarled.

"You can't threaten me, I'm immortal."

"_**Good to know," **_Aeon chuckled as he flew a few feet higher.

King widened his eyes as the armoured man let him go.

* * *

Lois Lane considered herself one of the biggest reporters on super human related news. So naturally when there was a new hero in town she had to get involved in getting the big scoop. After all she wrote the famous articles on Superman and other Metropolis hero's like Supergirl, Steel and Guardian. She stood with a crowd of journalists and cameramen looking at the scene where the Royal Flush Gang had been arrested. Or more like massacred, pieces of Ace were being carried away and King had been pinned to the wall with a note saying 'Royal Flush courtesy of Aeon!'

'Leaving a note at beaten criminals, who does that?' Lois wondered.

"Cameras went off round about the time the gang entered the bank chief, most of the hostages are accounted for, even a kid who was hiding in one of the closets," one of the officers explained to the detective.

"Don't tell me he had an accident," the detective said.

"No but he was cowering, said he got out of there as soon as they started yelling at people, the kid might be eighteen I think."

"Teenagers, they act all tough and confident and then when trouble starts they become cowards," the detective sighed.

Lois crossed over the police line and went towards one of the ambulances.

"They came in, wounded some of the guards and then yelled at everybody to get down, I tripped the silent alarm like I was trained to before the big guy pulled me away from my workstation," she listened in as the police questioned one of the hostages. "They started arguing about something and then…he came, at least I think it was a he, it could have been a woman or a robot like Red Tornado. Anyway, he dropped from the ceiling and suddenly, these crystals started to surround me, I imagined it was like being frozen, but it felt…warm and safe and then a few seconds later the crystal shattered and I was truly safe."

Lois noted the hostage's awe. Some were still in shock but were thankful to be alive nonetheless. She had a lot to write about when she returned to the Planet.

* * *

Andre Briggs stood before the world defence council. They were an international task force formed in the aftermath of the Swamp Thing event, when a black version of the Swamp Thing rampaged across America. Their identities were unknown but Briggs had it on good authority that they were all experts on super human activity.

"I'll be blunt council, the world still has heroes but they are in need of a team of icons, a group that can rally them when their needs are severe," Andre explained.

The darkened images of the seven council members looked down at Briggs. He had long been a supporter of a UN sanctioned Justice League. But his attempts to reform the JLI were always faced with opposition.

"Super villains attacks have certainly escalated," council one said.

"But there is a danger that reforming the League would lead to further escalation," said council two.

"What exactly did you have in mind Briggs?" council four asked.

"The formation of a team sir, sanctioned by the UN government, the Justice League Task force," Briggs pushed a button on his console and bought up several images. "I have spent the past few months gathering intelligence and approaching super heroes both old and new, offering them incentives to join a team," Briggs explained.

"Quite a collection you've gained, but some of these members might be problematic," Council three said.

"Don't worry councillors, I've picked out seven of the best candidates to represent the major corners of the world, they are as follows:"

"From Japan Atomic Lantern Man," he showed the image of a young man wearing a green coat with some kind of harness around it. "Formerly of the Super Young Team he went under the name…Big Atomic Lantern Boy, our public relations team have recommended a new image for him and he seems to like it, our tech experts have also upgraded his suit!"

"From Africa and to also represent Batman Inc we have Batwing, he wasn't easy to come by," Briggs sighed as he showed the image of an African American man wearing a blue suit of armour, the armour had bat like wings on its back and a bat symbol on the chest.

"The Russian government was happy to provide us with Gavril Ivanovich or rather Gavril was happy to offer his services," Briggs smiled as he highlighted the image of the current Rocket Red, he wore a lighter version of the armour he wore when he helped the original JLI team and Blue Beetle. His suit was a red and white colour and included a rocket pack and blasters on his wrists. "As well as his suit he is also capable of talking to machines!"

"We have a former Russian terrorist, a reject from a team no one's heard of a poor substitute for Batman, and one could say this team is more of a political stunt. Why are you so worried about diversity, our concern should be on operatives that can handle the work, not people who wont offend," councillor five explained.

"Batwing is more effective an operative than one would think, Gavril loves his country enough to fight it and Lantern Boy and his team were central players in the last Crisis. Yes this is a political stunt, its to show that heroes from all corners of the world can be united, unity is the goal we are aiming to achieve," Briggs explained.

"What about Icons, you said this team had to have icons on it," council one said.

"That's why Uncle Sam will serve as second in command and the team's muscle," the image of the famous hero, based on the propaganda poster appeared. "I've also worked on getting new heroes to serve as part of the team. Godiva shall represent Britain and can offer subtlety," afterwards the image of a blonde haired woman in a white suit appeared.

"She's also likely to get herself killed, her hair is the only weapon she has," council seven huffed.

"It isn't all about the power councillor, but if power is something you're looking for then how about August General In Iron to represent China," the image of a creature made out of iron appeared, his skin seemed to resemble a suit of armour with a staff like weapon completing his 'general' look.

"I see and who shall lead this team?" council six asked.

"The newest hero, Galaxor," Briggs seemed to over sell the presentation of the last image. It showed a blonde haired man in a black suit with gold bands, boots and a chest plate.

"Galaxor? What a stupid name," council seven huffed.

"He picked it, public relations is working on a good name, but his actions speak louder than his choice of name. Already he's an icon for his home country Australia and has even protected Americans, he's extremely popular and he's eager to serve," Briggs explained.

"Perhaps too eager," council two muttered.

"The fact is council the world will always need a Justice League and there's no sign of them getting back together anytime soon," Briggs said.

The council remained silent, considering their options.

"The council votes in favour, form your unity squad Briggs, once the first crisis hits we'll see how effective they can be," council one said before cutting the council's connection.

Briggs smiled; the world would get the Justice League they deserved.

* * *

Lois really wanted to cover the Aeon story. But Clark had been on it since the first signs of the young hero began to appear. The mild mannered reporter had the appearance of an ordinary man. But he was far from ordinary. Ever since his encounters with the Legion of Super heroes in his youth, Clark knew that he was destined for something great. He didn't fight for the grand legacy though, as Superman he simply wanted to reach the world in a positive way and he had done just that. The world was a better place, and Clark was comfortable putting the cape aside for a while. Kara was starting to adjust well as a solo super hero. Then signs came up of the hero Aeon, Bruce always made a point of pointing out that the incidents started happening after the distortion in space disappeared. A crane in Texas nearly fell on top of civilians, but crystal pillars stopped it from falling. An elevator in the Lex tower building broke, but forensics found that crystals had been used to repair the brakes. Even criminals were unexpectedly stopped by the sudden appearance of the crystals that followed Aeon.

He first appeared in public during the Batman of Japan and the Super Young Teams battle against a lizard creature. The monster had been rampaging through the city in typical Godzilla fashion. Just as the Japanese Batman was contemplating bringing in outside help, Aeon suddenly appeared. He created crystal constructs that formed shields to protect the innocents and the shields flew with him as he flew around the creature. Clark brought up the Youtube video that had gone viral a mere twenty four hours after it was taken. The blue and white armoured man flew around the creature, redirecting his shields when necessary. Whoever was holding the camera nearly fell victim to a piece of falling debris, but a crystal shield blocked the rubble. He ran to another position and watched as Aeon flew Aquazon (formerly called Shiny Happy Aquazon, though many of the Super Young team members abandoned aspects of their codenames) in his arms to Superbat and Canary.

'Was he giving them orders, or a warning perhaps?' Clark wondered.

Aeon then held his arm out and Sonic Lightning suddenly appeared. The speedster had an expression of shock on his face as the armoured man gripped his shoulders and spoke to him. Sonic Lightning's nervous expression seemed to fade as the man whispered something in his ear. The speedster then rushed off and Aeon seemed to wait for a few moments. Whatever the lizard creature was called walked closer towards Aeon, who waited until the lizard was inches away from him. Clark paused the video and saw that Sonic Lightning had passed by Aeon and whispered something into his ear. As soon as Clark continued the video, Aeon rushed up the lizard, dragging his sword clean through the giant's belly and splitting the jaw in half. The lizard then crashed to the ground, Aeon looked around before flying away. It was later discovered that Sonic Lightning had ran faster than he ever had before, evacuating the surrounding area, even causing the cameraman to drop his camera.

'He encouraged the speedster to evacuate the surrounding area, made sure the Super Young Team was clear and even flew around the beast to determine whether it was a sentient creature. When everyone was clear he then killed the monster,' Clark listed off the qualities of Aeon, he saved lives first and foremost, property damage was the last thing on his mind.

"Kent, where's Lois?" he heard the Daily Planet's Editor Perry White call for him.

Clark saved his data and rose from his workstation. Many people said that the Daily Planet was struggling, but that was the case with all organisations that were slow to change. Perry was changing the Daily Planet, expanding it so that it would have a global influence in news. That included the formation of an internet news site and even phone apps. Clark put on his jacket and turned to the editor as he bought in an intern. One aspect of the Daily Planet's change included the formation of an internship program so that new ideas could be bought to light.

"She's on an assignment Perry," Clark said.

"Fine, she can meet Siegfried later," Perry said.

Clark looked at the young intern with Perry. He was probably eighteen years old, at least as old as Kara. The young man had a mess of black hair, natural spikes had formed without gel, showing little care for his appearance. He had an athletic build, like a climber or a free runner. His wardrobe consisted of a red shirt with a thin, short sleeved jacket, the jacket was a black colour with white markings on the pockets and across the shoulders, it also had a grey hood attached to it. He also wore a pair of black trousers and a pair of red and white sneakers. A pair of black gloves covered his hands and wrists; they were very thin and built primarily for style and not warmth. His red shirt covered his belt, but not the gold belt buckle, which had a very distinct symbol on it. It was a Hebrew symbol of faith.

"Actually I prefer Sieg Mr White," the young man said sheepishly.

"And once you've earned your place here you might be able to get away with calling me Perry, but never chief," Perry growled. "Anyway, show Reilly the ropes and keep him out of trouble," he walked out of Clark's office space and left him with his intern.

"Nice to meet you Mr Reilly, my names Clark, Clark Kent and welcome to the planet," he offered the boy his hand.

"Its an honour to meet you Mr Kent, you were the runner up for the Pulitzer last year right?" Sieg asked nervously.

"I lost to my wife," Clark chuckled.

"No offence but she's the better writer…I hope you don't take offence to that," Sieg rubbed his head.

"I don't, just don't tell Lois that, so where will you be working when not on assignment?"

"Mr White doesn't want me writing articles just yet, I'll be working in archives," Sieg said.

"I see, well I hope you enjoy working here Sieg and try not to be too nervous," Clark smiled.

"Thank you Mr Kent, I mean Clark," Sieg chuckled.

* * *

"There's the thing about these super heroes, the lack of concern for public property, for the tax payers dollars," though there was considerable adoration for super heroes, there were also many critiques.

One such critique was Jordan Neville, the main host of the show Keep Heroism Legal. There weren't many viewers; in fact it was one of the lowest rated shows in America. Which was why people were confused as to why it was the only program they could watch on TV. Complaints flew in from across the country all asking why the hateful show was the only thing that could be watched.

"Look at this guy, Aeon he calls himself, why the hell does he call himself Aeon in the first place? Superman and Batman you can get but Aeon, he pulls a name out of his ass, gets himself a costume and he thinks he's a hero, its like that Super Young Team, rip offs of all the icons and they don't even do anything. Then we have the Teen Titans, who sanctioned this group of minors to take down bad guys," Jordan ranted to a live studio audience.

Jordan Neville and his followers were not a minority, which was a curious thing to many people. The group believed that heroes had to act to a certain standard, that there had to be a number of heroes at any time including an equal number of heroes from every nation and race. They didn't account for the fact that many heroes became so because of circumstance, believing that the very existence of heroes had to be politically correct and right. Which was a contradiction since a certain detective had it on good authority that Jordan Neville was a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church.

"Just look at the original Justice League, a woman whose dressed like a whore, and four white men, how can this line up be called the greatest line up ever, where's the diversity?"

"You know the 'all black men are overly sensitive about diversity' used to be kind of funny, but this guy is ridiculous," Guy Gardner huffed.

Hal nodded his head in agreement. John Stewart simply shook his head. The former marine and current Green Lantern officer had put up with moments of racism when he was growing up but it had never been a big issue with him. He was also a practical minded man, what good was a symbol if it hadn't actually achieve something. His heroes Mandela and Dr King had achieved things, the 'KHL' group wanted heroes to exist to promote religions and political groups. But propaganda didn't have the same effect that it used to have. John became a marine to serve his country, not because he saw a poster of a black officer.

"One way to get rid of racism, is to stop talking about it," John said.

"This guy is a bit of an idiot, I mean the original League had J'onn in it and Clark, both aliens…doesn't really get more diverse than that," Hal chuckled.

"Besides why are we even talking about this, how have things been going at Ferris aircrafts?" John asked.

"Fine, we're testing a new aircraft for the military," Hal said.

"Asked her to marry you yet?" Guy grinned.

"Say Guy who did the breaking up, you or Tora?" Hal asked, grinning as Guy glared at him.

"Easy you two," John said.

"Yeah, remember that I've still got my ring Jordan!"

"Did you have it on when Batman knocked you out with one punch?"

"You son of a…"

"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" John yelled.

The two men looked to John as he pointed at the TV. Jordan wasn't ranting anymore, in fact the man had gone silent as a voice echoed through the studio.

"HA! HA! HA!" the laugh was sarcastic and had little energy to it, but the voice was instantly recognisable. "And I thought my jokes were bad, you're bringing race into super heroics? Or maybe its because you were raised in ignorance, it couldn't have been easy, being gay and living in such an environment. But don't worry I believe in diversity as well," the Joker laughed. "Which is why, I'm going to kill everyone in this room, regardless of the colour of their skin or what preference they have!"

The doors of the studio were suddenly thrown open. Baby dolls with wings on their backs flew through the studio, spewing a green gas from their mouths. Jordan rose from his seat, looking at his audience in horror. A grinning white face suddenly appeared in front of the camera. Joker swung the camera around, giving the whole of America the perfect view of the massacre. People stumbled over their seats as the gas consumed them.

"Hello America, Joker's back in town, I've been away for quite some time you see, I've been doing some sightseeing, reading some good books…well translate reading to watching inspiring videos on Youtube, I found one about the Westboro Baptist Church…and people say I'm crazy," the Joker muttered. "But don't worry folks, you don't need to worry about me killing you because you're gay or because I don't like your skin colour…hell look at my skin colour, that would be the excuse everyone picks for me," he giggled.

The screams of the victims began to slowly fade, replaced by horrific laughter. The smoke began to clear, revealing the grins forced over the audiences faces.

"What is this about?" Jordan asked.

"Its to make a point, no…to establish the truth, in the eyes of me and my friends…you are all equally as worthless," Joker produced a gun from his coat and pointed it at Jordan.

"NO!"

Jordan shielded his face with his arms. A flag popped out of the barrel of the gun. Jordan drew his hands away from his face. Joker laughed as the flag shot out of the gun, piercing Jordan's skull.

"The old flag out of the barrel trick, you've got to love the classics. Here's another classic, before I came here I planted bombs on the foundation of this building and in the surrounding area. I also got into the studio with several mystery guests, an Injustice League or Society or Legion, whatever term you want to use to describe us go ahead, unless there's a super hero team out there capable of taking us down in the next twenty four hours then I will detonate those bombs and trust me…a building collapsing is the least of your worries. You should all know me and what I'm capable of, there's no negotiating with me, so come heroes try to stop me and my friends, the world is counting on you!"

Joker grinned before he threw the camera to the ground. The three Green Lanterns (one former) widened their eyes in shock. In Gotham Bruce narrowed his eyes, there was always more to the Joker than he claimed. Whatever the Joker was planning there was more to it than the threat of a building full of hostages. If Joker said the world depended on them, then there was a good chance his plan did involve the whole world.

'The world needs the Justice League,' the dark knight thought as he rose from his chair.

Next Chapter 2: First Responders

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Hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter. The seven council members will play essential roles in the story and the Joker's 'friends' will be some familiar but different faces. Galaxor is not an OC, he was a short lived character in the Injustice comic series.

Next time the Justice League Unity squad is unveiled and Batman investigates King's partners.


End file.
